The following sermon is by Kenny Jones, associate pastor of Capitol Community Church, located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Capitol Community Church is a people awakened to a holy God. If you are searching for a new church home, or from out of town looking for a church to worship with, or simply seeking for answers. Please join us for worship at 9 o'clock a.m. every Sunday morning. If you have any questions, please email us at info at CapitalCommunityChurch.com. We pray this sermon will help you grow deeper in your walk with Jesus Christ. Well, good evening. I am not Grant. And you're probably looking in the back of your, maybe from the bulletin from this morning, and some of you probably heard Grant was sick earlier this week. And so we made a decision over the weekend for me to fill in so he can just recuperate over the weekend. And so, but I'm glad, nonetheless, I'm glad to be here with you all tonight. And it's been a few months since I've been here with you last. I think last time we were here, we finished the commandment sermon series. back in February. And so, I know you've missed me, and I know y'all are... I'm just better than Grant. It just needs to be said. So, just kidding. That was a joke. But anyway, but nonetheless, all jokes aside, I am glad to be able to be up here. And of course, in the providence of God, He foreknew that I would be up here with you tonight and to be able to continue to walk through God's Word. Here's the thing I want to start off with. Tonight, as Grant and I were talking just a few days ago about the opportunity for me to come and fill in his place, You know, there is something to be said about continuing to preach within a sermon series. A lot of times, we've even done that here numerous times, where, you know, for example, if we were in the First Timothy series, someone would continue to pick up in First Timothy. I did that. I believe Jim Young did. I know Russ did at times. But as we were talking about, Grant and I, that is, when we were talking about what to be able to think and to be able to challenge all of us here through God's word, here's something that jumped out to me. You know, Grant has been walking through the Honor of God series, and he just walked through a significant part within his series talking about the weight of glory. What does it look like, the weight of the glory of God? But also, if you remember, there was very practical elements within his teaching about the weight of glory, the power of the glory of God that the believer has on their life, and what it means to carry that all into the world, into our family, into our friends, our job, and the like. And so the one thing as I, just a couple of days ago, as Grant and I were talking and praying, something popped up in my mind that I believe is very applicable today, that's going to affect our walk with Christ, but also for us to truly be able to glorify Christ, we can't have this within our hearts and in our minds. And that is a word that when I say it, you're probably gonna do this. And that's anxiety. It's anxiety. All of us in here, some way, some wow, some season of life, or maybe within your heart you have your own disposition to be more anxious. Whatever the case may be, the sin of anxiety is real. It's very real in everyday life, whether we realize it or not. And if we're really honest with ourselves, I think we probably are more anxious or more worried than we probably want to admit to ourselves. It's very easy for us within our minds to be able to go down the rabbit trail of, well this is taking place and so you begin to worry about that, and so this is taking place and you begin to worry about that, and basically you are compounding interest on your anxious thoughts faster and at a rapid speed than you even realize. Now, I say compound interest, as you know, I'm a former banker, so that's how my mind works. I like math equations. One plus one is two. But that's the same thing that can be said with anxiety. Something is causing the anxiety. The one plus one equals anxiety, so what's the one and the one equaling? Does that make sense? And that's what we can find within our own hearts. And as Grant and I were talking over the weekend, that's what we find ourselves when we come to the grand truth, the theological truth of what does the glory of God look like? The weight of glory, the honor of God look like? And we can't honor God, we cannot glorify the Lord Jesus Christ if we have a bent of anxiety within our hearts. The two do not go hand in hand. It's like oil and water. They're not synonymous. Though the Christian thinks they are sometimes, we can begin to think, for example, well, I'm just an anxious person. I have that disposition. I'm just a worrywart. Who told you that? That's not true. We're Christians. We've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. We're able to cry out, Abba, Father, all because of Christ. Our identity is not in anxiety, our identity is in Christ. And so when we begin to worry about a circumstance, or a financial need, or a health, or a relationship, whatever the case may be, we begin to quickly replace our identity in Christ with that fear. And so, I believe, I pray, that as we walk through, and if you have your Bibles, I'm gonna ask you if you will, go and flip over to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six. And tonight we are going to go through probably one of the more famous passages within the Sermon on the Mount, which is when Christ tells his disciples, do not be anxious. Do not be anxious. What's interesting within this passage as you're flipping there, if you were to look through Genesis through Revelation, there were over 300 utterances of do not fear within scripture. There are well over 20 some odd times that Jesus tells His disciples or His followers within the four Gospels, do not fear or fear not. This is a repeated theme in our Savior's language and His teaching. Fear not, fear not, do not fear. I believe a lot of times, as I was thinking about the Sermon on the Mount, and especially the 300 times that it says do not fear in Scripture alone, you always see it with an imperative. It's always going to be an imperative, do not fear. And that's the application, I pray, that we're going to see tonight, because the reality is this. In the Sermon on the Mount, this is Jesus' sermon, the best sermon ever preached on this earth, given to us by the grace of God, written to us through His Word, And the imperative is clear in these verses from 25 through 34 that our Savior does not want us to be worried about the next day or the matters at hand. Now, if we're honest with ourselves, that's easier said than done. It's easier said than done, I realize that. Because anxiety, if you look at it from a pure psychological aspect, there is a whole web of theories and studies and disorders that we can go in with anxiety, and I'm not necessarily gonna go there tonight. But I do want us to look at tonight, when we are in a season of anxiety, when we are in a season of worry, or whatever it is, fill in the blank, why are we replacing God with that worry, is what I want us to answer tonight. But I also want us to show us this, When we are anxious, when we do get anxious, what do we run to? And my prayer tonight, as we'll see in 25 through 34, as we're going to see how big, how gracious, and how our Heavenly Father provides for us. That's what I want us to look at tonight. Let me give you a little context. Let me line up. Let me get up to the plate for you guys. This is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is teaching in the gospel of Matthew. This is just a few weeks into his gospel ministry here on earth. And what Jesus is doing, starting in Matthew chapter five, is that he is teaching his disciples and the followers of Christ here a kingdom ethic. And what do I mean by that? He's teaching the people, his followers, how to live according to a life that has been now saved by him. Let me say it another way. to be obedient to the word. Let me say it another way. Living a life through the lens of Christ is another way for us to say it. And I've given you these four descriptions because we're gonna see all those in different lights as we unpack 25 through 34. But within the Sermon on the Mount, I think one of the best descriptions we have is by a guy named Dr. Chuck Quarles. He says, the Sermon on the Mount is a description of the righteous life for which every disciple should aspire. Every disciple should aspire to this life. And specifically, as we're gonna be looking to, do not be anxious. Do not be anxious. And so, if you got your Bibles open, Matthew chapter six, and let's read along with me in verse 25. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all of his glory are not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which day is alive and tomorrow is under the oven, will he now much more clothe you, O you of little faith. Therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat, what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Let's go to Lord in prayer and ask Him to lead us in our time together. Bow your heads with me. We're grateful for another opportunity to come and to be able to open up your word together as a people of God. And Lord, thank you for the opportunity for this evening service, and Lord, our friends here, our friends online, and Lord, for also the people who may be watching it or listening to it later in the weeks to come. Lord, all of us, all of us, are guilty of being anxious. whether in a season right now where there's a lot of things going on in our life that tend to move our hearts to a disposition of being anxious all the time and worrying about things. Whatever the case may be, Lord, the temptation to be anxious and to worry over things is right at the tip of our tongue or the tip of our minds, I should say. So Father, I pray that you would teach us through your word. Help us to see how glorious and Lord, how gracious you are in your provision for us in ways we cannot even see. So I pray that you apply your word to our heart. Teach us, Father, how to trust and know that you will provide for all of our needs. We love you and we pray these things in Christ's good and holy name. Amen. So look with me in verse 25. Jesus starts off and says, therefore, which means he's recalling the previous teachings from his sermon. Now, when I say the previous teachings, I think, as I was studying this, that he's specifically helping us to look at the chapter six. Now, of course, Jesus is not saying, hey, go back to chapter six. But what you can see there, verses one through 24, there is a progression that gets us to see why Jesus' teaching, do not be anxious. But specifically, I want us to look at verses 19-24 for just a moment because this, I believe, helps us understand why we are going to be anxious. And the reason why is that Jesus is going to that therefore, is because when you see, depending on the heading of your Bible, it may say, lay up treasures in heaven. And that's exactly what is going to be a root cause of anxiety because here's this. In verse 19 it says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. Earthly treasures is another way of saying that. Then he goes a little further on, but lay for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing can destroy it. Okay, so he's talking about eternal attributes that the Father is wanting you to build, Jesus is wanting you to build up righteous treasures in heaven. And then he goes on to further on that the eyes lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, the whole body will be full of darkness. What you intake is going to dictate how you are going to live your life. Does that make sense? I was just at the doctor a couple weeks ago for my annual physical, and she was imploring me to just be remindful of what I'm eating, because that's ultimately going to affect your days and how you feel in the weeks and even the years to come, she said. It's the same thing here. So if you're looking at bad things, or if you're looking at a good thing, that's going to dictate, that's going to be the spiritual barometer of how you are going. But then he goes on to further, In verse 24, no one can serve two masters, for either way he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. What Jesus is showing us is that our hearts cannot be divided. Our hearts cannot be divided. Which shows us this, if we're going to serve two masters, what Jesus is helping us to see in verse 24 is that you're gonna serve one. you're gonna give greater devotion to one of those false gods. And you can expect, if you go after that false god, you're going to worry. Again, it goes back to my equation of me being a former banker. One plus one is two. So if you've got a divided heart, obviously the side that you are favoring is going to hinder your faith in Christ. And so then you're going to worry. Now I know a lot of times it's easy for us to say, well Kenny, that makes sense, but I don't think I have a divided heart. The question is this. When you are alone for just a moment of the day, as my dad used to say, when you get a lot of windshield time, you know what that means? A lot of drive time? That's an old eastern North Carolina saying there for you. But if you get alone time, what does your mind go to? What are you thinking about most days? That's obviously a lot of times just between you and the Lord. But so often that's going to dictate truly where is the master of your heart. You follow me when I say that? So what are you thinking about? But then he goes on, and that helps us to be able to understand why Jesus says, therefore I tell you, do not be anxious. Because if you are laying for yourselves treasures on this earth, if you're looking at, if your eye is bad, and if you're serving a master that is devoted to the things of this earth, you're going to have anxiety. Because your mind is on the things not of above, but of the things below. So then he goes on in verse 25, And he describes for us from 25 through 29, three things that I believe cover every area of our lives that we can get anxious about. Food, time, and our bodies. That pretty much covers everything if you really get down to the nit and gritty of it. But then he goes on in verse 25, I want to point out one quick thing. He says, therefore I tell you do not. I want to center in right there for a second. I tell you, do not. Jesus, the Son of God, is commanding us not to be anxious. This is coming from the Son of Man, the Son of God, telling His disciples, I'm telling you, do not be worried about your body, time, and food. Don't worry about the things of this earth. This is coming from the Son of God, which Jesus is ultimately showing us. that if you worry, it's antithetical to practical trust in God. That's what we see here. And Jesus is pointing to us pretty quickly in verse 25, because he understands very quickly that worry and faith, like I said earlier, do not go hand in hand. And so Jesus in this verse, he's not condemning, by the way, proper planning. He's not condemning that at all. We are called to work, 1 Thessalonians chapter four. If you don't work, you don't eat. There is diligence at hand that Jesus tells his disciples to do. So we can see that within scripture. Jesus is not saying don't save for retirement, don't be able to save a little bit in your savings account. Those are not bad things. But what Jesus is telling us that when we begin to worry about, for example, saving for our retirement, and we begin to mold that into a God, that's the slippery slope that we can find ourselves with anxiety. Because Jesus goes on to say, pretty quickly in verse 25, is not life more than what you would drink or about your body or what you put on? Is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? So he's asking this rhetorical question. And so Jesus is telling his disciples that yes, these are the necessities of life for you to live, but that's not the important thing he's getting to. Jesus, whether you realize it or not, in verse 25, is going to the heart of the issue, and that is your soul. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, from chapter five to chapter seven, is wanting us to see clear that he cares about your soul. Your soul, your heart, matters to Christ. That's what he's getting to, as we can see within verse 25. He cares about the disciples being saved is another way for us to see it. But the reality is this, and I've said it a lot, and I don't mean to be a broken drum, but what I'm saying to you, I'm saying three times back to me, that if we look at verses 19 through 24, it's pretty quickly to see that division creates disorder. Division creates disorder. And that's the life that we find within ourselves if we begin to lay up for ourselves treasures that are going to rust and be destroyed. If we begin to cast our eyes on the things of the earth that will make our body or the light dim and be dark, then we will ultimately serve the master that we believe can serve us on this earth. That's the objective we find. So division creates disorder. But what Jesus is helping us to see here, even in verse 25, and even later parts of the chapter, and we'll get there briefly here in just a few moments, But we have to understand that our God, like it reminds us of 1 Corinthians 14, 33, our God is not a God of confusion, but of peace. We have a God of order. You can see that right out of the gate in Genesis chapter one. God created the earth in how many days? Bingo. And on the seventh day, he did what? He rested. But within those days, there's order to everything. Nothing is out of place within the confines of creation. But we see that play out how God establishes order. And to the other books of the Bible, and even here of Jesus showing the necessity of life is about salvation, about believing in him. But also, that through salvation, God will care for all the other needs of our life. That's what Jesus is helping us to understand. So it's clear for us, it's very clear, that as Jesus is coming here with the authority as the Son of God, commanding us not to be anxious, asking in the form of a rhetorical question, is not your life more than food and the body more than clothing? Yes, it is. It's a matter of the soul, which then shows you already in the early days of Jesus' ministry, the trajectory of where Jesus is going for the rest of His days on earth in His earthly ministry. Jesus cares about the heart. So look with me in verse 26. So now we see him say, look at the birds of the air. So Jesus gives us an example of how the birds of the air are proof that we shouldn't be anxious. Now, serious question. When's the last time you've taken a moment to look at birds? Yeah, just seriously, just take a moment to look at a bird. Now, a lot of you know this. I'm a hunter. I grew up with a dad who was a great conservationist. Loved to be outdoors. And one of the, if you've ever been out hunting, even if you've never been out in the woods to hunt, one of the most, my favorite parts, of course, is the hunt. But it's when sun is getting ready to come up and creation begins to come alive. I love it. I was hunting with my nephew just a couple of weeks ago, and even sitting in that stand with him, you could slowly hear things rustle behind you, which can cause alarm if you're not used to that. But nonetheless, it's beautiful to see creation come alive. But here's the other side. As I was preparing for this message, my mind went to just a hunt. I remember a hunt a couple of years ago as I was on, I was just by myself, sitting in the deer stand, And I can remember seeing just a flock of birds, as soon as that sun came up, they hit the ground and they were hungry. But do you think those birds, in that example, are getting together and saying, hey Carl, do you think by chance in that grain field there's gonna be enough for us to eat? Or do you think those birds, if they have to fly, for example, 10 miles south, do you think they're gonna say, I really hope some trees are there so that we can land in? You see the birds actively going and going to work and not being anxious and toiling over whether or not they can survive. It really is a humbling example, isn't it, from our Savior to give us a creature that sometimes can be no bigger than the palm of our hand, be an example of the grace and the mercy of God providing for our daily needs. Isn't that humbling to see that? And so in verse 26, We see a perfect example of, again, God wanting us to see how the Heavenly Father provides for His created people. Look at the birds of the air that are sown or reaped into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valued than they? What a question to ask. What a question to ask. Jesus is also going to, in this passage, back to the Lord's Prayer. When you look at verses 5 just a page over, verses 5 through 15, when Jesus teaches the house of the disciples to pray, he says, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. What does it say in verse 11? Give us this day our daily bread. The daily provision of the Father. You know, if you know the Sermon on the Mount, there's a lot of echoing back and forth between the Ten Commandments, and what Jesus is teaching here. There's a lot of similarity between these two. And what you also know, right out of the gate with the people of Israel, when they were journeying into the Promised Land, they were hungry, and what did they start to do? Crumble. But how did the Lord provide for them? He gave them manna. Exactly. And then later on, He gave quail. But you see here, that's what Jesus is also helping the people here to go back and to think about as well. But again, give us our daily bread that Heavenly Father provides. But also, I want you to see this. Key word, value. Are you not of more value than they? It's similar to what Grant preached about this morning. God values life. And God values His sons and daughters who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. It's high value that our Lord puts on His created beings. And also, it says it again in Matthew chapter 10, verse 29 to 31. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore, are you of no more value than many sparrows." Now, I've got a beautiful set of hair, so that was a joke. But you can see, I don't even laugh at that. All right, whatever. But anyway, but nonetheless, you can see from Matthew chapter 10, verses 29 through 31, that even the details of hair, the Father knows, and the Father provides. And that short hair of hair, that's right, on Jeff, but you have some, brother. But anyway, but listen, back to where we see here in verse 26, this is exactly what Jesus is wanting us to see. This is the provision of the Heavenly Father. But I also want to give you an example, a very earthly example that helps you understand this in more ways. If Jesus is pointing out how the Heavenly Father graciously provides for His people, think about it on the daily basis of a parent. Listen, no matter if you aren't a parent, or if you are, you're a grandparent, you're an aunt and uncle, you're a parent to a dear friend of a child, think about it. You would do anything to provide for them, wouldn't you? I have three girls, I think y'all know that. And I would do anything if it would provide for the needs. And listen, that's a part of my charge as a father, is to provide for my family. But think about it. There's nothing more in my heart that I love to do than provide for my girls. And to be able to, at times, let them have fun and be able to see God's provision and His grace being poured out in those ways as well. And that's the same thing we see here in verses 25 and 26 of Jesus pointing to that. That God provides and wants to provide for these details of the life of the believer. He provides. And that's where I'm gonna pull a little R.C. Sproul for you guys. Y'all know who R.C. Sproul is? The king of the whiteboard. Or the king of the chalkboard. But here's what I want us to see. I'm going to break down something for us. Because there's something in the Christian vernacular that we say a lot, but I don't know if we necessarily understand the ramifications of what this means. And that is the word providence. We say it a lot, but do we truly understand it? Providence. And I'm going to break down for us where providence comes from, which comes from the word provide. If my mother was here, if she was still alive, she would say, one, your handwriting is atrocious, but two, my mom had her master's in English literature, and so parsing stuff was her forte. But I'm gonna do this. There's two words here, pro and vide. In the Latin for pro, can you read my handwriting? It means forward. Okay? It means forward. Or on the behalf of. Yes, this is my normal handwriting. Now, vide. If you know this, I'll give you a hundred on your test. Does anyone know what provide means? It means to see. I think someone said it. To see. forward to see. Simply stated, we can see pretty quickly from this Word to supply what is needed. That's where we get our Word provision from, or provide, or providence from. But I want you to…I wanted to break this down for you all. for you to see also within this noun of providence, even though providence comes from, even when you break down this noun, I want you to see this forward to see that God understands and has already planned the future for us. And that's a huge thing to grasp within our minds. But I write this and break this down for us because on twofold. One, it goes back to Jesus' question in verse 26. Look at the birds there, they sow, they reap. Are you not more valuable than they? Yes, you are. And since yes, you are, you can understand that God's gonna provide for the details of our life. But also, here's something I also want you to think about. It says in Ephesians chapter one, verse 11, that before the foundation of the world, God set apart people who are going to be His elect to be Christians. And since God foreknew that, don't you think He's going to provide for the cares and the concerns of your life? Isn't that humbling to think about? I say that to myself all the time to think about the election or God's sovereign salvation as another way of saying it. And so when you come to a word like this, and you look at it in confines of Matthew chapter six, you do see how God cares for you. And you do see how He wants to care for those needs so you don't have to worry. You follow me when I talk about that? It's very clear that we see this point, even up to verse 26, that we see from the Heavenly Father. So then, I want you to go a little further with me. Look with me in verse 27. And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And this is a very short verse that continues to humble us and convict us of sin. Because what Jesus is saying within this rhetorical question is, when you worry, do you think you can add any hour to your life? Another way of saying it, you're wasting your time if you worry. Pretty clear. And what Jesus is pointing for us here in Matthew chapter six, verse 27. When we worry, we think for those few moments that we're in control, don't we? We do. That's why we begin to worry. And that's what Jesus is pointing, or hopefully the Holy Spirit is convicting you of, because even though you think you are in control, and you think that if I just continue to mold this over and be anxious about it, that some way, somehow, I'm going to fix this within our minds. But what Jesus is saying to us, do you think you can do and add any hour to our span of life? No, you can't. Because what Jesus is pointing to us in verse 27 is that time, is very important to the Christian. Why is that? Because life is but a vapor. We're here for only a certain amount of time. And so why should we worry about the things of this earth when Jesus is wanting us, like I said earlier in verse 25, that he's urging salvation and for us to see the great needs of the kingdom of God. and for us to be, as Grain has been saying over the last couple of weeks in the Honor of God series, for us to be able to live a life that is glorifying to King Jesus in every aspect of our life, to give glory to King Jesus, why should we worry, and why do we think if we worry, it's going to do anything in regards to this time on this earth? But for some odd reason, when we do begin to worry, We think we are in control. It's natural. It's just like a snowball effect sometimes. But this is something I remember I learned a long time ago. When you look at the word of anxiety, I want you to look right in the center of it. What letter is that? I. I call it the cone of isolation. And that's exactly what happens when we begin to worry. It's just me and my thoughts. And it's just like when you fire a gun into a steel drum, that bullet's gonna continue to ricochet all over the place. And that's a lot of times what happens when we begin to worry. It's an echo chamber within our minds, and we forget the truth of the gospel. We forget what scripture says. We forget the deep things of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so we begin to play the what-if game. And we begin to go down this road of just the what-if, and the me, me, me game, and why, why, why game, as my mom used to say, when we begin to be anxious. And that's exactly what we see in verse 27. And man, does that waste time. Man, does that waste time. Look with me in verses 28 through 30. So then Jesus moves into clothing. And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the loaves of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon, all of his glory, was in a raid like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, verse 30, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? He takes a flower. that is lavishly designed and He's shown to us that He cares and He has such a higher care for His created beings. R.T. Frantz says it best, if God creates with such extravagant and loving care, something which is destined so soon for such a noble end, His care for His higher creation may confidently be expected to be much more. Isn't that a great way of summarizing that point? God cares for us more than the flowers of the field. And here is the root of it all. When we are anxious, and when the attack for us to remember the providence of God starts to take place, this is where the root of it all comes from. Look with me in verse 30. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is turned to the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?" O you of little faith is what Jesus points to us. That's the root of it all. It's faithlessness is what Jesus is helping us to see. And that's exactly what happens to us when we begin to lose sight of the provision and the grace of our Lord and Savior caring for us. Martin Luther, the great theologian, called anxiety the great and function. Germans have a great way of describing things. If you know much German, they have a great way of being able to, almost like very much the engineering that they are very well known for, of describing and organizing thoughts and words and phrases into great descriptions. But I was looking in one commentary about it and ended up going down a rabbit trail with myself. But the Germans even ascribe anxiety as a choking out. of the thought or the heart of the person, a choking out. Isn't that a great way of describing anxiety? That's exactly what takes place. A couple of months, actually, about a year ago now, I was in a restaurant where I saw somebody choke. And this person got up from their chair and they began to, you could tell, you know, fright was on their face. And if you've ever witnessed that, it's a very scary moment. and someone immediately jumped over there and did the Heimlich, and by God's grace, that person was fine. But you know, though this was in a small restaurant here in Raleigh, it took over the entire restaurant. The scene did. And not that that person was embarrassed or embarrassed anybody in that place, but that's what choking does. It takes the entire scene, so to speak, or mood from us, and it chokes out all the promises of God. And it begins to slowly choke out for us with the idea of, oh, you have a little faith, that's faithlessness, faster than what we realize. This goes back to what I was talking about a couple of months ago when we were going through the Ten Commandments sermon series. You may remember that I kept talking about the Ten Commandments domino effect. Because what I mean by that is that when you begin to dig deep within the Ten Commandments, which you realize that if you begin to disobey one, you're going to naturally disobey the other ones, and it's like a domino effect. And here's what I mean by that. When you begin to disobey the first commandment, which is when Exodus chapter 20 verse 3, when you begin to not have, when you begin to, it says, you shall have no other gods before me, but when you begin to replace God, you are probably gonna have a breaking of the second commandment, which is what? You shall have no other idols. And when you have other false idols being built up, you are naturally gonna begin to steal and dishonor your parents. And you're then going to do a whole host of other sins, whether you realize it or not. And that's the same thing with this word over here, anxiety, and that's exactly what happens. Anxiety, what we don't realize, And what Jesus helps us see, even in verses 28 through 30, is that so often we think this is just a singular sin. No one sees that I'm anxious. But it goes back to my example just a moment ago, when that person at the restaurant was choking. Though we were in a very small restaurant, the entire restaurant was shaken up. Because we all wanted that person to be okay. And then of course, just within a few minutes, they went ahead and called 911 just to make sure that person was okay. And again, that man was, by God's grace, was fine. But the entire night probably was taken up with this scene of this man choking. And that's exactly what we find here within verses 28 through 30 that is just like a domino effect with anxiety. It reveals to us a whole host of other sins, whether we realize it or not. And I know I've said that phrase, realize it or not, more times than I want to admit tonight, but that's the reality I want you and I to see here. Anxiety is just like a snowball effect. We begin to worry about something that starts off here, but it begins to slowly come down that hill, and it can become an avalanche faster than we'll realize. And here's the reality with that. Here's the reality I want us to see. O you of little faith, it's sin. Jesus is calling out sin, very boldly. When we are not practicing this daily trust before the Father, we are in sin. And so you may think, Kenny, no one sees this anxiety. It's just me and my own thoughts. It's just me and my car beating the dashboard, getting angry about this, or getting angry about that. The reality is this. It's just like the choking scene. Sooner or later, someone's going to notice. Someone's going to notice. But most importantly, you've sinned against a holy God. And you have doubted His providence. that He can care for you and the needs that you have within your life. We cannot walk in the grace of God and at the same time not believe that it's going to sustain us. We begin to be hypocrites when we do that. And you know what a hypocrite is in the Greek? It's an actor. That's what a hypocrite is. You're putting on a facade. And we don't need to have that mentality or that heartfelt attitude towards God. But instead, we need to see that we have in the Heavenly Father, who more times than we realize, in ways that we don't even see, is providing and sustaining us so that we can live a life that is pleasing and giving glory to Him. And that's the objective, is giving praise and the glory to the King of Kings. And that's what Grant was talking about not even four Sunday nights ago, of the reality and the practical applications of how people are looking to us if we call ourselves a Christian. They're looking to us. Remember what he said, I guess it was about three Sundays ago? He said, we really do have a bullseye on our back. And if we are anxious about the things of this world, People are going to notice that. And that's not going to bring honor and glory to the King of Kings. And so, I want us to see very quickly that our Heavenly Father wants to provide for us and desires to provide for us. Remember what Romans says in 1 Peter 5, 7? Casting all our anxieties on Him because He what? Cares for you. He cares for you. Romans 8, 32, he who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? What a glorious reminder of our heavenly father. And then he goes on just a little further in verses 31 to 32. Therefore do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things. So what Jesus is saying there is by beholding our God and seeing our identity in the gospel of Jesus Christ, we don't have to go worrying how the Gentiles do. Basically, the Gentiles don't know Christ. And so they do go about their daily life worrying about the things of this earth. But Jesus is saying, if you are my disciple, You don't have to go blindlessly into this world wondering if the cares and the needs that you have are not going to be provided for. And then it goes on a little further, end of verse 33 and 34. Here's the remedy of it all. How do we cure ourselves from anxiety? but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. The remedy for anxiety is found in verse 33, which is to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Key word, first. Key word here is seek first. That can be much easier said than done, like I said in my introduction. But the reality is, that's the mindset we have to have. We have to have a single focus on the things of eternity. We have to have this single-minded focus. It's really almost like going back to the Ten Commandments. We have to have a first commandment focus, which is, you shall have no other gods before me. We have to have this single-minded focus if we are going to live in this world, but also to battle anxiety. As you all know, I love history. And if you didn't know that, many times as I've had the opportunity to be in this pulpit, I've talked about how much I love history. And one area of history I love to learn about is World War II. And if you go to my office, I have stacks of books and even some of the house about World War II history. And one of my favorite parts of history is what happened on June 6, 1944. Does anybody know what happened then? D-Day. That's right. That's right. And so, you know your history. Good job. And so, the leader of the Allied Forces was Dwight Eisenhower. And if y'all read much about Dwight Eisenhower, very interesting man, but a smart man. He knew battle plans, he knew tactics, But as I was reading this one book many years ago about D-Day and Dwight Eisenhower, one of the things he began to reinforce months ahead before D-Day was the single-minded focus of the mission at hand. He would constantly say to his aides, and one of his aides published part of this book that I read, was that he would constantly go back to saying, we have one job, we have one job, we have one job. That's what he kept saying, Dwight Eisenhower, we have one job, we have one job. And this, I'm gonna read you just a little excerpt from his speech that he gave to the soldiers on June 3rd, just a few days before D-Day. He says, your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well-equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. He goes on a little further. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. I'm gonna pull something out of there. The only way D-Day was successful is to have a resolute mindset, a single-minded focus to kill the Nazis. Pretty clear, isn't it, from Dwight Eisenhower? But the reality is this, when you look at verses 33 through 34, we too have to have a single-minded focus on the kingdom of God and living our life through the lens of Jesus Christ. Living our life through understanding that God is going to provide for the needs and the cares of our life. And so when I say to have this single-minded focus, I want to break down three quick things for us to see here in order for us to seek first the kingdom of God. Number one is this. You can write this down if you want. We understand our place, our position, in light of the gospel. We understand our position in light of the gospel. It helps us to start, to go back to the beginning of Jesus' sermon. Flip over one page with me. Matthew chapter five. He says this, and he opened his mouth, starting in verse two, and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Being poor in spirit is someone who is desperate, someone who is in need. We all have been in those positions where we have been in need. Maybe it's been a need financially. Maybe it's been a need of a relational issue. Or whatever the case may be, When we are in need, that poor in spirit mindset, so we are also going to come with an urgency, but also with this idea of being hungry for help. And that poor in spirit in verse three helps us to see that we cannot save ourselves. And so being poor in spirit, We have nothing to give, we have nothing to earn. And so we come looking to Christ as our only means of salvation. And this is how we can understand our position in light of the gospel. When we're coming in poor in spirit, we know that when we know we have been redeemed, we come with thankful hearts. Isaiah 66 verse 2 reminds us of this. All these things my hands have made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one whom I look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. Poor in spirit is not a negative position, but it's the right one. In our understanding of the gospel, we humble ourselves and know apart from God we are nothing. John 15, right? And so when we are poor and we are in need spiritually, we know there's only one place to come and to feast, and that is at King Jesus. Which leads us to number two. We obey and we cherish the word of God, and we also pray. We cherish the word of God and we pray. Look with me in chapter five, which is a little further on. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. This hunger and thirsting for righteousness is the exact attitude we are supposed to have. To live holy and blameless lives is another way for us to understand it. We are to have the mindset of Jesus in John chapter four that Grant talked about just a few weeks ago. Verses 34, my food is to do the will of the one who sent me. We are to be people of the book. People of the Bible, we are to be obedient to every word. We hold up the word of God as the inerrant word of God, sufficient for all of life and without error. George Mueller, the great missionary, this is one of my favorite quotes, said this, the vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts. Isn't that a great quote? So the question is this, are we getting into the Word daily? Are we taking time every single day to get into God's Word, to be convicted by the Holy Spirit, to repent of our sins, and to be renewed in the image of Christ day by day? Are we on our knees, being in prayer, pleading and asking for the Lord to help us? praying for others, praying for those worries that we do have. Is that our disposition when we are alone and away from the public eye? It's a good question to ask ourselves. But here's also the reality. I'll summarize our points here pretty fast since we're running out of time. Listen, when I say we're people of the book, we have to hold on to what these words say. And here's what I mean by this. When anxiety takes place, we forget these words here, don't we? It goes back to that mindset of choking out. Man, when we get anxious, if we're really honest with ourselves, it's amazing how fast, like flipping on a light switch, we forget everything that we learned in church. Because all our minds are consumed on is that worry. What about my job? What about that paycheck? What about that family member? What about that situation at work? What about my health? Whatever the case may be, man, does it quickly just rob us, and we just go blind to what the things of, thus saith the Lord. But the reality is this. When we, maybe we're not in the season of anxiety, or maybe today we're not necessarily anxious, But when we are going to come to the reality of being worried about something, if you were doing the planning and the reading and the hard work of being a diligent student of the Word of God, I promise you, even if you only hold on to one verse, that is going to give you a peace that passes all understanding. And I can tell you that from my own experience. Listen, yes, I'm a pastor. But I would be lying to you if I didn't say there are times and seasons I don't get worried about things. And what do I run to? The book. The Bible. Because I can be honest with you. When you think about a season of hardship, what's one of the great verses we can run to? Psalm 23, verse four. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. What about the fear of the future? Probably the greatest fear of all, if you want to classify fear. It's the fear of the future. Psalm 32.8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Why not fear in general? You just feel it within your heart one day. What am I anxious about, Lord? Why is the old ticker going a mile a minute? Psalm 41.10 Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Hold on to the Word. Hold on to the Word. Be in the Scripture always, daily, so that when the seasons come of hardship and suffering and anxiety and worry, we can go back to the book And when we do have a lot of windshield time, sometimes that one verse the Lord gives us, we repeat over and over and over again. Number three, we trust in the providence and the sovereignty of God. The providence of God is simply put, knowing that God is gonna provide for us in all areas of life. In all areas of life. And this is something that we can, it's hard to see that when we are in the midst of a hard time. When we are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and we see how good and gracious our Heavenly Father is, I can tell you, it is like a peace that passes all understanding that takes place. And we know that His will will always be done. And it's always gonna be perfect and pleasing and always for our good. So trust in His provision. Remember this word, provide. forward on the behalf of Deci, and to know there's no accidents with God. He's not looking down the future and going, what's going to take place? No, everything is in control. Everything is planned by His will. Thanks for listening. For more sermons, information, and events, check out our website at capitolcommunitychurch.com.